Projecting The Crew Lineup: February 19

Today marks the Crew’s second preseason game and its first as part of the Disney Pro Soccer
Classic. The team has been together for a little less than a month by now and this is the time for
coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter to start working on lineups rather than just
tactics.

GoalkeeperAs noted in mid-January, this is a competition that could last for the entire season. We
learned last week that Berhalter plans to pick one starter and stick with him for an extended
period of time, so there will not be rotating goalkeepers unless one should falter during the long
haul.

Lampson and Clark split the lone preseason game to this point. I continue to feel that Berhalter
would not have made a move to bring Clark in unless he felt Lampson was not ready for the full-time
job, and that indicates to me that Clark is the guy unless Lampson outshines him.

Right now, I’m giving Clark a 51-49 edge over Lampson. These four games in Florida will produce
a starter.

The plan still seems to be to only carry three goalkeepers, although Berhalter was a little less
committal when the topic was brought up late last week. I still think Withrow is the third man on
the roster and a candidate to be loaned to Dayton for regular playing time.

Projected starter: Steve Clark

DefenseThis is a section of the field that doesn’t project much differently than it did a month
ago.

Although we have yet to see much from him, Francis is the odds-on favorite at left back because
I get the sense that Berhalter likes Viana in the midfield rather than on defense. Against Malmo,
rookie Ben Sweat and veteran Tyson Wahl each saw time at the position with Francis sidelined by a
minor injury. Berhalter prefers Wahl as a center back, but I’m starting to feel that he would be
the second choice at left back behind Francis.

Parkhurst and Williams remain locks to start in central defense. What might be interesting when
the season starts is whether or not Parkhurst is available. The United States has a road friendly
against Ukraine on March 5, three days before the Crew’s season opener at D.C. United. I haven’t
asked about that yet and we don’t know for sure if Parkhurst will make the team or not, but it
stands to reason that he might be unavailable for the opener.

We’ll see some Parkhurst at right back as the season goes on but not at left back. Right now, I’d
think Eric Gehrig and Kevan George are the top two candidates to replace him should he play
outside. I’m also not sleeping on unsigned trialist Patrick Slogic, who has plenty of size and
showed surprising quickness during training last week. Should he make the squad, he’d be a
candidate – albeit a young, raw one.

At right back, I haven’t gotten the sense that anyone has passed Barson. He’s also impressed
with his physical strength – Barson reportedly can do more than 90 push-ups in one minute.

MidfieldWe know at least one thing about the Crew’s midfield: Berhalter said he is planning to use
one target forward, three attacking midfielders and two holding midfielders.

At the defensive end, Trapp remains the guy to build around. I’m expecting to see him paired
with Viana at this point. Viana was one of four guys whose contract was guaranteed for 2014, and he
was a pretty steady player in his first season with the Crew. He’s got to be in here somewhere, and
partnered with Trapp seems the most likely spot right now. Plus, his athleticism will allow him to
help cover for outside backs making attacking runs.

Now for the attacking end. Two of these four positions will be occupied by players who could
easily be considered forwards: Higuain and Oduro. Higuain will direct the attack and chip in where
necessary and Oduro’s speed from the flank just stretches defenses in so many ways. You could
classify either or both as forwards – and I wonder if we’ll see more of a 4-3-3 as time goes on –
but for now, they remain on the field as midfielders. Oduro on the right and Higuain in the
middle.

Now you have a number of candidates for the other remaining midfield spot. Anor, Jimenez, Meram,
Paladini and Speas all are part of this battle.

Jimenez’s role strikes me as more of a game-changing substitute. Paladini has unfortunately been
slowed by a knee injury, and although he will benefit from training on grass he’s probably a little
bit behind in his development for 2014.

This leaves the three holdovers. Speas has impressed while playing centrally, but that figures
to be Higuain’s role so I expect him to come off the bench. In a nip-and-tuck race, I give the
slightest of edges right now to Anor.

ForwardWith Oduro and Higuain technically listed in the midfield, the role of lone forward has two
primary candidates: Arrieta and Finley. The former is hoping to recapture his 2012 form, while the
latter is hoping to prove he can make an impact on par with what he made in college.

My first inclination would be to go with Arrieta because he has at least proven that he can
score consistently – and inconsistently – at this level. But the more I’ve seen this preseason, the
more I think the staff wants to give Finley a shot.

We’ll get more of a feel for this as the preseason rolls on, but at this moment I’m guessing
Finley.